The Railway Watch & Ward had its Origin as long as 1882 when the  Railway Companies then in existence appointed their own Chowkidars for each Department.  This arrangement   was   found   to  be  on  the  whole  fairly satisfactory till 1918 when with an increase  in  traffic  there was a steep rise in the incidence of thefts of goods entrusted to Railways  for  carriage  which  led  to  the Government of India to appoint a committee to enquire into causes thereof and suggest a remedy.

                Acting on the  Committee's  recommendations, most of the Class I Railways reorganised their  Watch  &  Ward  as  a  separate  unit under a superior officer.  But this too proved inadequate, and in the situation coming in the wake of the Second World War, losses dueto thefts and claims that had to be paid by Railways assumed such size as to need serious attention.   This situation was not peculiar to  Railway premises only but was a part of the general  crime  situation  in  the  country.  The  Watch  &  Ward  units  were  found  to be hopelessly inadequate for the purpose for which they were intended.

                The  Government  of  India,  therefore,  instituted  a  special  enquiry  through  Director, Intelligence Bureau (Ministry of Home Affairs) who in his report in 1954 forcefully brought out  the  necessity  of  organising  the  Watch  &  Ward  on  a statutory basis.  The Railway Board  also  appointed  a  Security  Adviser  to the Railway Board in July, 1953 to work out the  details  for  the  reorganisation  of  the  Watch  &  Ward department.  It was decided in consultation  with  the  Ministry  of  Home  Affairs  that  there  should be an integrated well organised force on the model of the Police with adequate supervisory staff specially trained to  meet  the  particular  aspects of crime that were relevant to Railway property to work in the  particular  aspects  of  crime  that  were  relevant  to  Railway  property to work in close collaboration  and  act  as  a  second  line  to  the  States  Police  with  whom,  under  the Constitution,  policing  on  Railways  rested.  This  led  to  the  R.P.F.  Bill  for  the better protection and security of Railway property being passed into the Railway Protection Force Act, 1957 (No.23 of 1957).

                 The RPF Act, 1957 was modified by Parliament vide Act No.60 of 1985 on 20 September 1985 for the constitution and maintenance of the Force as an Armed Force of the Union.  For carrying out the purposes of the Act, RPF Rules 1987 was framed.
 
 

                 The RPF at the all India level is headed by Director General, Railway Protection Force, Ministry of Railways, Railway Board, Rail Bhavan, New Delhi.  Dr. A.K.Pandey, IPS is the present Director General of  Railway Protection Force.